Fire-escape



J.H.BURK S.

FIRE ESGAPE.

No. 300,843. Patented June 24, 1884. H:

UNlTE STATES Parnsrr FFICE.

JESSE H. BURKS, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOB TO \VELOOME A. BOTKIN, ELDRIDGE WV. BRANN AN, JOHN J. OBBIEN, FRANK B. HOUGH, SALATHIEL O. FANOHER, AND W'ILLIAM S. BROlVN, ALL OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 300,843, dated June 24, 1884. I

Application filed January 23, 1884. (No model.)

T (tZZ whom it may concern Be it known that 1, Jesse H. BURKs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes, of which the following is a specification. My invention relates to the improvement of adevice for which Letters Patent No. 288,304 were granted to me by the United States Patent Office on November 13, 1883. In said device a tape was passed around certain pins in the upper part of a metallic case in such a manner as to lap back upon itself and produce I 5 a certain amount of friction, which was in a measure proportionate to the weight of the person suspended; but the relation of the pins to the weight being fixed it was necessary to have a brake to press against the tape and increase the friction when the weight was increased. In my present invention, while the tape is passed around the pins in a manner very similar to that of my former device, the relation of the weight to the pins is essentially different, and can be very readily varied to increase or lessen the friction without the use of a brake.

The several parts of my invention are fully set forth in the accompanying drawings, in which similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

Figures 1 and 2 are difierent views of the apparatus as it appears when in use, the person being seated in the net N, which is attached by the hooks H to the hanger II.

The pins 1), p, and p are similarly situated in the slide B, which is attached to the case 0, containingthecoiloftape,andtheslideS,which is provided with a handle, it. Now, the fric- 40 tion being produced entirely by the tape T lapping back upon itself against the pin 12, Fig.

1, it is apparent that when a heavy weight is suspended from the pin 1), which is a little farther from the case 0 than the pin p, the pin will be thrown a little up, and thus increase the friction, and if a lighter weight be sus pended from the pin p the weight of the case will lower the position of the pin and diminish the friction, so that it adjusts itself automatically, the friction being in direct proportion to the weight suspended from the pin 19 The person sitting in the net may increase the friction by pressing the case upward or diminish it by pressing the case downward; but to guard against the possibility of his descending too rapidly there is a nose on the upper end of the hanger H, which, when the case is pressed down too far, impinges upon one of the pins p p and forms asafety-clutch. The slide S is identical in construction with the slide B, except that it is provided with a handle, h, by means of which the position of the pins may be changed to increase or diminish the friction, and a pin, 0, to prevent the tape from lapping upon the pin 1) and producing too much friction. This last purpose is accomplished by the roll of. tape itself in the case 0. The slide S may be used upon a tape independently of the case and slide B, or it may be used in connection with it for a second person to descend after the first has descended and paid out the tape from the case. IVhile the first person is descending the slide S will take the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2; but

when the weight of a person is attached to it, 7 5

it will take the position shown in Fig. 3, and operates in all respects like the slide B, at tached to the case O, the raising or lowering of the handle it increasing or diminishing the friction like the raising or lowering of the case C. The descent of a person suspended from the slide S may be hastened by a person standing on the ground by drawing upon the tape,

' which will depress the handle it and diminish the friction of the tape against itself upon the 8 5 pin 1). I

To afford travelers who carry their own apparatus with them a ready means of attaching it, I have devised the grapple G, Figs. 1 and 2,

the two jaws of which are joined by a toggle- 9o joint to the loop or link L, to which is attached the end of the tape. This grapple is constructed especially with a view to attaching to a window-sash, as shown in the drawings, and there is with each grapple a small wedge, WV, to be 9 5 pressed up behind the edge of the sash, as shown in Fig. 1, and prevent its being drawn down by the weight of a person.

2. The combination of the grapple Grand the 10 wedge W with a window-sash, for the purpose set forth.

JESSE H. BURKS.

XVit-nesses:

W'M. A. TIT/ION, J. H. Johnson. 

